That driving heat
radiating off Wall Street,
an insatiable power lust
where total control is a must.
But it isn’t just the money, honey
that wets your appetite
with pretty maids all in a row.
Like the lines of blow that flow
up your nose
from way down below.
Where the Chairman
is an alpha predator
for the pay day lenders.
Where the board of directors
are celebrity tax avoiders,
and lobbyists
for the armaments industry.
Pimps and lawyers
navigating stormy waters,
whilst paying off politicians
and hookers.
Resplendent
in their pinstripe suits
sewn from the bones
of credit card corpses.
Wheeling the thrill
of a killer deal
with embezzled funds,
courtesy of some dictator’s son.
The blood and poverty of many
… their kingdom come.
The silver spoon
and a crystal pill,
that ecstasy of kleptocracy.
Snorting one
whist popping the other.
Plugging can be such fun
in a private stall.
Close to the orchestra,
for a gala screening
of ‘Triumph of the Will’.
A proud brotherhood
in the audience,
itching to kill.
A Helter Skelter
that Charles Manson
could’ve only dreamt of.
A carnivorous carnival,
starring Victorious Capitalist,
for perhaps
a final performance?
Accompanied by the Four Tenors
on Horseback.
The hounds of hell
hot on his heels.
A foretaste of oblivion
in the hallowed halls
of Golden Tower Man.
Far from Eden’s garden
a captive population
harvesting the poppies
of globalised greed.
Mainlining corruption,
and senseless destruction,
from the Mother of All Poison.
What could possibly be the harm?
Like a petrochemical
hot shot in the arm.
That fossil fuel is always cool,
and good for big business.
Just gotta ignore the Big Warm.
Or how about some disinfectant?
Thanks for that suggestion!
Papaver Somniferum
Junkies all
by acquiescence.
Have we become
this planet’s
pure heroin?
I’m not talkin’ revolution.
I’m talkin’ righteousness,
with a touch of reverence.
But then again, I guess,
that would be a revolution.
Words & Image;
David B. Redpath Β© 2019-2020
“The Lord has told you, human,
what is good. He has told you what
He wants from you:
To do what is right to other people,
love being kind to others, and live humbly, obeying your God.”
~ Book of Micah
This is epic.
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Thank you exceedingly, Yassyπ
Perhaps I’m just an epicurean
. . . looking for a cure π
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You are welcome, David
Your verse fabulous sacred
Looking for a cure?
Till then, please endure
I hope you find
What you have in mind
That makes your heart happy
And put that zing back into the π΄ nappy
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“Sleepers awake, for heaven’s sake!”
More a cry than a cure, but perhaps
the best a wordsmith dare try. I guess
the rest is up to the Spirit in the Sky?π
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What a spirit in the sky can do
You can do better ππ»
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But I do try not to snooze on the job, Yassy.
But sleep, as dreams, just seems to happen.
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You burning the candle on both ends, David??
Being on cloud nine all the time ain’t stupid
Dream away, David cus your a dreamer
Of poetic verses, you are a weaver.
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I must be, Yassy. For I’m living Down Under,
but I was writing in a New York state of mind.
I only get away with that as I was conceived
on Long Island. But that’s another bedtime story.
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I love your bed time stories,
These tales of Down Under glories
Your state of mind fascinates
About your conception, google debates
Catch you soon, mister
Hehe , bravo , Long Island Hipster ππ
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Powerful and hauntingly accurate (I think)β¦.. J J Caleβs song, by Eric Clapton
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Thanks for that, Ivor.
Eric Clapton singing J.J.Cale
(sorely missed … may he rest in peace)
who could ask for more?
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Always my pleasure, David
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Thanks for this, David. Solstice Day.
There are those who believe that the North American way of being contains within itself the mechanism of its own self-correction and that the Millenial vanguard has arrived. But this corruption is everywhere now and we begin to think that the only force powerful enough to force a change are the workings of the natural order itself seeking always it’s own equilibrium.
Thank you for witnessing, David. Thank you for witnessing. Thank you for witnessing.
Sarah
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My obsessive compulsive pleasure, SarahβοΈ π
I’m always wary of those claiming to know the big answers, without fully knowing the questions.
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I don’t know where my comment went, David….. Thank you for your witness. Thank you for your witness. Thank you for your witness.
Sarah
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Nice David I like this.
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Thank you, Stella π You’ve just reminded me,
I much prefer to write about what’s nice.
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You are welcome! I know you do.
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I guess I’m a heroin fiend now!! The way you combine poetry with a corrupt story without tiring a word is astonishing to me. Iconic, in fact.
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If it was good enuff for Lou Reed? But Watt,
I don’t advise taking the Velvet Underground
. . . Too much vice is not nice π
Thanks for the positive feedback π
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I wouldn’t worry about that vice. Never done it, never would. I promise I promise. π
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Yes … Heroin Chic is far too oblique
and definitely not a healthy look π
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Why use a drug that gives you an inflated view of yourself when the problem with most people is that they aren’t humble enough?
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Exactly … I couldn’t agree more. Yet . . .
the inflation has only a momentary duration.
Most of the time, the junkie has perhaps an
even greater awareness of their broken, and
fallen state.
Whereas the perpetually straight often think
they’re doing just great.
But that’s a subject my humble little post
was not exactly about π
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I’m old… I ramble…
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I’m a bit of a ramblin’ man myself π
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The cancerous corruption spreading everywhere! Powerful words, David and I agree with…reminded me of J.J.Cale, who is sorely missed.
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Thank you, Punam π
I’m glad to have brightened up your day.
Perhaps, after midnight . . .πΆ
I’ll see things a different way π
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You are welcome, David. Perhaps after midnight, you are the sensitive kind!π
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True … but I don’t cry, sister,
because money talks,
and I ain’t no crazy mama π
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Lol! Carry on for mama don’t like lies! π
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Don’t do it … Don’t do it! πππ
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ππ
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In a word, yes.
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Thanks for that positive affirmation, Liz π
Perhaps we can all go into rehabilitation?
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Your poem packs a punch.π
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Gracias, Imelda π
Thank you very much.
I was aiming below the belt,
but I’m a little bit out of touch π
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Probably. Man. Once again…You set us full steam on the truth train. Float me away under sparking blue skies in the womb of the healing ocean…please!!! π³ππ
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There’s a boat sailing today π¬οΈβ΅
off into the mystic β¨π«
With Van Morrison as the
on board entertainment, Katy.
So everything will be hunky dory.
With a special guest appearance
by Major Tom, a.k.a. David Bowie π
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May I join too? I hate cleptocracy and would love a journey into the mystic.
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My poetic Heroine of the Aegean, aboard
my pleasure craft you are always welcome.
Now we can plot the revolution to comeπ
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Yes, yes, yes!
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“Whatever happened to the revolution?
We all got stoned and it drifted away.” π’
~ Skyhooks
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Well, at least we had a great time thinking about it
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There’s always time for a revival, Senorita.
Viva La Revolucion π
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I’ll get stoned to that!
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“Well, they’ll stone you when
you’re trying to be so good
They’ll stone you just like
they said they would
They’ll stone you when
you’re trying to go home
And they’ll stone you when
you’re there all alone.”
~ The Poet Laureate of Rock ‘n’ Roll
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Pappa was a rolling stone.
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And straight as a dog’s hind leg ‴οΈβ©οΈπβͺοΈβ€΅οΈ
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It’s so funny when they do this!
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It was too much of a Temptation to add
that my apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
For wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home π
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How does it feel?
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Like a rolling stone … covered in moss!?
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You get the best of two worlds!
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It’s a downhill ride … Gravity is a bitch.
But that’s how I roll π
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Suppose you really knew
What’s it all about
And someone you thought you knew
He asked you out
I’m not easy I know
Gravity talks
(Is there any sense in these lyrics I wonder)
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There’s a meaning there . . .
It’s all in the ear of the listener.
A creative passageway to ponder.
Like good art that creates a personal
connection with the viewer.
The artist creates, captures and releases
. . . into the cosmos.
Nothing more uncomfortable than when
an artist is asked to explain his work.
Unless, of course, they can speak fluent
abstract hyperrealism.
The first line takes you immediately to an alternative reality, for who really knows
. . . what it’s all about?
“There’s a meaning there
But the meaning there doesn’t
really mean a thing
Come and see the real thing
I am the real, thing
Trying hard to understand that,
really not, you’re seeing me.”
~ The Real Thing
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A wise man said: if it’s sloppy, eat it over the sink.
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That is so deep π€πΆοΈ
I’m going to have to think …
Life can be deeply messy.
I’m going to need a bigger sink.
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The bigger the better.
It’s a line from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
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I too still love the songs of Tom Petty.
Does that make me a heartbreaker
living like a refugee?
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AYE AYE, Captain David!!! I’m aboard all the way!!! βοΈπβ¨ππ
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This is pure sarcasm.I love it!
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Glad you got a hit out of it, HusseinβοΈ
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Drugs, ego, dirty money, junk food…we are all drowning in the muck. There needs to be a mass awakening.
So, you are American by conception, huh?
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Yes, Victoria. And Victoria is the State I’m in.
That’s down under in Australia. My two
sisters are U.S. citizens. My two brothers
are Aussies. As a World citizen I seem to
be stuck in the middle π
I am the Garbage man for an exploding
family. The West has become addicted to
all things plastic. We’ve induced the
“Developing World” to get hooked on our
industrialized habit. Now the momentum
of globalisation is running out of steam …
who’s going to choose to clean up the mess?
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Iβd like to be worldly like you. Iβm stuck in the US.
I canβt stand all this plastic. If we went back to paper supplies, weβd only kill the trees. Glass is wonderful (milkmen) but, that industry was sidelined.
Plastic garbage everywhere. And, they *told* us they were *recycling* it, as in *reusing*. They actually meant recycling it somewhere else. How did we get here, anyway?
Arenβt there plastic eating bacteria somewhere?
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Wherever you go in the world now
there are mountains of discarded plastic.
Go to the top of the Himalayas, and there
it is. Apart from the human poverty, it is
the most heartbreaking thing when you
are on the wing. Once a tropical paradise,
where now the rivers choked with used water bottles, and the beaches covered
in washed up garbage π
Plastic consuming lifeforms? Hopefully
the next phase of life’s capacity to adapt.
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I tried to find a quote from the writing that most spoke to me but I would have to reprint the whole piece!
I absolutely love this.
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Thank you very much π I appreciate your
positive feedback, as I posted this piece
with much fear and trepidation.
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“Junkies all by acquiescence” I am appreciative you overcame your ‘fear and trepidation’ this piece is so poignant as well as hard hitting. On so many levels it exposes the ‘human’ problem the ‘us and them’ that in the end is only ‘us’ and allows us to watch the ‘carnivorous carnival’ from a distance while we as a species “mainline corruption and senseless destruction” this was indeed an inspired piece…… We all need to overcome any fear and trepidation we are feeling
And do “what we can, where we are, with what we have”ππ»
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From my southern Antipodean location,
to somewhere on the coastal western,
much gratitude and appreciation π π
Yes, by default, we are all shareholders
in an industialised assault on creation.
Time to attend the next shareholders
meeting and take a vote to revolt against
a system that is beyond all hope βοΈ
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Powerful… and sadly accurate.
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Thank you, Sha’Tara.
I’d much rather write of something other βοΈ
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Every line a punch, David.
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Thanks Rosaliene π
I do try to punch above my weight π
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profound, beautiful, an anthem for the conscience a warning for the unconscientious idk what else to say
oh
yes
F***ING GREAT WORK!! thank you β€
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T***KING you, exceedingly !π
For you, a quote from guess who;
“Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government
Oh, get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance
Learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin’
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don’t wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don’t want to be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don’t work
‘Cause the vandals took the handles”
~ Subterranean Homesick Blues
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Zimmy!!!! ummm…. i usEd to know some really bad kids who took handles just saying i of course was the voice of reason…. um hum
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That sounds perfectly reasonable π€πΆοΈ
At times petty crime is too much to handle.
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lol sshhhh my street cred man,,,,
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“Poppies of Globalised Greed” is my new band name.
…but don’t ask me what that means.
It keeps your kid quiet for six and a half minutes, who cares if that Happy Meal
toy ends up lodged in a sea turtles belly?
(…Skyhooks!)
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Poppies of flowering beauty,
and nature’s herbal bounty,
being milked and adulterated
for exploitation and profit.
Much like this whole planet.
As Mc Donald’s does the catering
at the kid’s party of total excess
Globalisation is failing
but I wish you all the success
with your band … Is it Heavy Metal,
or something more gentle?
As long as it ain’t Heavy Plastic!?
Skyhooks were a top Aussie band πΉπ¦
from the ’70’s. A bit Glam Rock and a bit
Roxy, of whom I have many fond memories.
Thanks for trying a taste of my post π
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“Skyhooks were a top Aussie band”
Indeed! I was tickled to see the quote in another comment.
PoGG gives a nod to the Arch-Drude.
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I got to see Skyhooks live a couple of times.
Once very early in their career at a suburban
gig. They were just starting to toy with the
whole glam rock thing. I then saw them years
later, after failing to crack the American
market for being “too commercial”. It was
a surprise appearance, and their first gig
back in Australia, at the Reefer’s Cabaret in Greville Street, Prahran. I too had felt they
were too ‘Countdown’ commercial. But,
unexpectedly, it turned out to be one of
the best Rock performances I can kind of
remember witnessing π They were at the
total peak of their musical craft. All dressed in black leather, and all gimmicks out the window.
Arch-Drude, a.k.a. Droolian, Lord Yatesbury, Rabbi Joseph Gordon, Hugo De Klee, etc, etc.
Are the police after him or something?
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“Why dontcha all, why dontcha all…”
Featured on brain attic playlist.
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ππβοΈ
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This is dark and true!!! Omg, you laid it all out there exquisitely honest. I am a fan of yours and deeply impressed. Beautiful! Bravo! π
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Greatly appreciated, Jus Me π
Without such positive feedback
I wouldn’t have a clue if I’m on track π
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This is an amazing poem David. Your wordplay is astonishing. You are such an amazing writer β€
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Thank you exceedingly, Precious π
. . . Greatly appreciated π π
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Wonderful lines – βfar from the eden garden harvesting the poppies of globalised greed mainlining corruption senseless destruction from the mother of poison what could be the harmβ¦β.
An important point of thought. Heart touching,
dear David!! It is a curse of youth and all countries. You have put up a serious topic.
Well done, dear!!
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Thank you, Arunaπ
I’m a lover, not a fighter
… as you know π
But sometimes the words
of blood mixed with tears
have gotta flow.
Oh, where have you been,
my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been,
my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side
of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled
on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle
of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front
of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles
in the mouth of a graveyard
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard,
it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.”
~ Bob Dylan
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Yeah. I know well reply in tragic way.in your lines,i see -something wrong is happened with you.plz reply.
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Everything fine with me and mine πππ
Thanks for your concern, Aruna ππ π
I see mankind heading towards the eve of destruction by the works of his own hand β
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Yeah.true.π
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Those herbivorous carnivals just don’t give enough bang for the buck, do they?
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But … I do like the fire breathing jugglers π₯
And the tofu finger food is always nice π
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There are so many lines that I savory.
However, this one I appetite the most.
“sewn from the bones
of credit card corpses”
Man, hardcore poetic masterpiece you have created. π My favorite poem of today. π
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Thank you exceedingly, Charlie.
I turned my pockets upside down ππΆοΈ
and found a piece of plastic, bearing
lots of angry numbers, and a fiery crown π₯
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You are welcome, David.
The fiery crown maybe in flames
the numbers in population rage in names
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Another poetic masterpiece full of mind blowing imagery, David.
Quite apropro considering the subject and the title.
Particularly loved the imagery of βPinstripe suit sewn from the bones of credit card corpsesβ.
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From the the bottom of my Goldman Sachs,
thank you very much Chris πππ²
Yes, consumer credit has kept the global
economy afloat. And for many, it wouldn’t
be Christmas without a high interest loan
from City Bank π¦
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This was good!
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Thank you, Kakkelle π
And as you no doubt know . . .
I’m as pure as the driven snow βοΈπ
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I love everything about this. Brilliant! π
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I love that you love it π
Heroin Chic could be
my favourite boutique.
But sadly, it’s been shot to hell
in a Christian Dior hand basket.
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Hi David,
Thanks for writing this. We have a hard wire problem and you can see it, while others go about their business. How will all this end? Don’t know, but I’m pretty sick of everything right now. It’s as if the days and nights are the jaws of a vice with our heads squeezed inside. Hard to think and sleep. Your poem gets it right, with some very nice phrasing. Thanks again. Duke
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Greatly appreciated, Duke π
“Que serΓ‘, serΓ‘
Whatever will be, will be.”
That’s what Doris Day said to me.
But to wake up from a bad dream
it helps to rage against the machine
The proof
is that only truth
can truly set us free π
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A good take on a sad part of society. Love your blog name, BTW!!
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Thank you for forbearing my pondering.
May the joy of much journaling be
with you on life’s journey π
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Powerful and unsettling. Really well done! Such a gorgeous image π
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Thank you very much, Frances.
I took the original photo in the sculpture
room at the Uffizi, in Florence. Then played
around with it till it fits π
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You really have a talent for weaving your poetry and the profound meanings they carry.
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Thank you very much, Drew.
Greatly appreciated π
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loved reading this π
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Thanks for dropping in
and taking a look ππ
Danielle and Brooke π
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Dearest David, I fear we have become this planetβs pure heroin, history’s bias and a legacy of untruths. May God’s will prevail in the days to come. Excellent as always. Wishing you and yours well. ~ Mia π
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Wonderful to hear from you, Mia.
I was hoping it would be raining
blessings for you in California,
including some actual rain π§οΈ β
I have faith that Truth is the
antidote for all this world’s ills.
But it may be some time before
the Big Cure prevails over a chaotic
riot of viral symptoms πβ€οΈ
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Likewise, David. Thank you, your words have brought a smile to my face. No rain yet, we are in the middle of another heat wave, the fires have been heartbreaking. The Big Cure will prevail, and I welcome it. π
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We like to take shots at similiar targets!!! Amazing work!!!!!
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‘You Keep What You Kill.”
is my old school motto π
Thanks for sampling
my troppo manifesto ππ
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Heroin is always a tragic heroine.
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To quote Tina Turner …
πΆ We don’t need another hero
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond
the Coronadome πΆ
A quick fix of disinfectant
should do the trick, Chris π€
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There’s no drug
Quite like money can’t get enough of
A fatal addiction
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If you love it π΅
I’m sure it will love you back β₯οΈ
Unless you have to borrow it
from a Wall Street bank π
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There is no pure heroin. Heroin is dead. Long live smack. It’s the reign of Prince Fent…the new ruler is worse than the old ones. The Earth should keep her old habit, it is at least a blast…there is at least some euphoria amongst the dead flowers.
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